Review Detail

The premise of The Last Girl is enough to spike the interest of any dystopian fan. A world where the female birthrate inexplicably declines and only a few precious girls remain to save the human race? I was immediately on board and The Last Girl was the first book I reached for this month.
Within the opening pages, the author offers up a fascinating look at the news headlines from around the world during the “Before.” This was such a clever way to introduce the decline of society and bring the reader right into the midst of the story without the mind-boggling world building one might expect.
And then the “After” begins and we meet Zoey. A seemingly ordinary girl who has enough heart and intelligence to question the world she lives in and not blindly believe everything she’s told. She is a refreshing heroine. Strong, but still vulnerable and uncertain about herself and the world around her. She has strength, but she understands fear. She has zero experience caring for herself, but she refuses to succumb to her weaknesses without a fight.
All her life, Zoey is told she must serve the greater good. Yet she questions what that means. “The greater good isn’t what they enforce with rules and guns and punishment. It’s being free to decide for ourselves what’s best for each of us.”

Zoey’s story was compelling and I did enjoy it, but the pacing was quite slow and it took some time to connect with this book. The science behind the decline in female births was a bit tenuous and glossed over. That led to some confusion about the agenda of the ARC and how society seemed to fall apart because of their involvement. There was too much emphasis placed on building up to the action and Zoey’s journey, which made the story move slowly for me.
The writing style was absolutely beautiful and I normally would have enjoyed the more poetic quality of the author’s descriptions, but it didn’t really fit with this genre and at times it felt excessive. This also attributed to the slower pace. But slow doesn’t mean bad. It was simply unexpected for this genre. Fans of sci-fi and dystopian worlds will enjoy The Last Girl, although the lovely descriptions and narrative will appeal to an older audience.
Despite its minor faults, The Last Girl kept me reading to the very end because I simply had to know what happened. That is where the author was the most successful. The story came to a satisfactory close, answering most of my questions, yet leaving me anxious to discover where Zoey’s story will take her in the next book.
The unique world and compelling premise of The Last Girl makes for a refreshing take on the dystopian genre that will appeal to fans looking for something different.

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